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Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson announced Friday that a warrant had been issued for the Sharpstown High School teacher accused of sexual contact with at least three students on campus. The case led to charges against the Sharpstown principal and two assistants.

The teacher, Ysidoro Rosales-Motola, 56, will be charged with two felony counts of an improper relationship with a child and one count of indecency with a child, Anderson said.

On Thursday, Sharpstown principal Rob Gasparello, 58, and two other administrators were charged with failing to tell police that students reported being sexually assaulted - in at least one case by a teacher, according to court records.

Gasparello is accused of not reporting to law enforcement or Child Protective Services a sexual abuse complaint by a 17-year-old male student. The student told Gasparello in October that a male teacher inappropriately touched him during after-school tutorials at the campus, the criminal complaint states.

Assistant principals Jason Thomson, 28, and Silvio Leiva, 50, also were charged. Police allege they also failed to report allegations against the teacher, according to the court records.

In a separate incident the same month, records say, Gasparello is accused of not telling the appropriate authorities that a 16-year-old female student said she was sexually assaulted before school. The criminal complaint does not say whether the alleged abuser was a Sharpstown employee.

Anderson and prosecutor Jane Waters said the law requires anyone, including educators, to report allegations of child abuse to law enforcement or Child Protective Services, not simply to their supervisors.

"It doesn't matter if you are the principal of a high school or a janitor at a high school or a teacher or a neighbor," Anderson said. "If you fail to protect children in your care, if you have reason to believe a child has been abused and you don't report it, we will prosecute you."

Waters said a police officer with HISD only became aware of the allegations by chance, and that officer reported the information to the Houston Police Department.

Gasparello, a high-profile leader who has overseen an academic turnaround effort at Sharpstown, told police that he asked the female student to write down what happened, the complaint states. But he did not report the allegation to law enforcement or Child Protective Services, it says.

Gasparello was arrested on the campus about 3:30 p.m. Thursday, according to the Houston Independent School District. He was charged with three counts of failure to report child abuse. He later was released on $1,500 bail.

Thomson and Leiva each was charged with one count and released on $1,000 bail.

The three Sharpstown administrators have been place on home leave with pay while the investigation is ongoing, HISD confirmed Friday afternoon.

Bill Moore, the Sharpstown dean of students, has been placed as administrator in charge of the campus. Moore is a veteran administrator with HISD.

Friday morning, classes proceeded as normal on the campus. Additional administrators were available if students wanted to speak to them.

48-hour report window

Texas law requires allegations of child abuse to be reported directly to authorities within 48 hours.

In most cases, failure to report child abuse is a Class A misdemeanor. The offense carries a maximum punishment of one year in jail.

HISD Superintendent Terry Grier recruited Gasparello, a longtime educator from North Carolina, to lead Sharpstown three years ago.

The school, which enrolls about 1,350 students, was the subject last year of a PBS "Frontline" documentary focused on Gasparello and his staff's efforts to keep students from dropping out. Students called him "Mr. G."

The allegations stunned students and parents who were arriving at campus Friday morning.

Nigel Hilliard, also 16 and in the tenth grade, praised the principal.

"They should keep Mr. G here because he's a good principal," Hilliard said.

Another student, Charles Osuji Jr., said he didn't believe the allegations.

"I don't think it's true," he said.

A woman who said her child attends the school was shocked. "That's messed up," Cynthia Cepede said. "I'm surprised about this."

In an interview with the Houston Chronicle in September, Gasparello discussed his recent work with dropouts.

"Most kids that aren't coming back to school have just not had any success in the traditional school program," he said. "We have a responsibility as caring adults to figure out how can we help these kids, whatever it may be."

The district notified parents of Gasparello's arrest in an automated phone call. The arrest of the others came later.

Recent La Marque case

"Our priority during this time will be to ensure that school continues to run as smoothly as possible and learning continues without any interruptions," the message said in part.

In recent years, other area school employees have faced charges of neglecting or delaying a child abuse report.

Last year, three staffers at Mainland Preparatory Academy, a La Marque charter school, were accused of taking almost three weeks to inform police that a 10-year-old female student reported being sexually assaulted by a 29-year-old man in Texas City.

According to Galveston County court documents, charges were dismissed in April 2013 because each one "completed training regarding child abuse and reporting of child abuse," according to prosecutor-filed motions.